What are Custom Foot Orthotics?
Custom foot orthotics will benefit a variety of individuals. For those who are athletes or active individuals, orthotics protect your feet and joints from the repetitive stress involved with specific sports. This protection helps to prevent sport injuries, as well as ligament and muscular strains. Orthotics can also assist people who must walk or stand excessively throughout the day. This rigid device helps control the motion in the foot and add support, eliminating pain and fatigue, a direct response of prolonged standing.
How do you make them? read more
BEFORE
One of our patients, wearing off the shelf orthotics.
AFTER
The same patient with custom orthotics that corrected the overpronation
Orthotics for Your Foot Health
Put your best foot forward
OFFERING YOU CUSTOM ORTHOTICS
by Atlanta Sport & Spine, a Leader in Orthopedic Physical Therapy
Are you struggling with problems in your foot, ankle, knee, or hip? Our feet are essential in the way we move around each day, but they can be the root of some complex problems involving your whole body. Whether you are busy on your feet more than a couple hours a day, or if you strain to maintain good posture, it is easy to ignore the pain.
Allow your favorite Physical Therapists at Atlanta Sport & Spine to help!
Book an orthopedic assessment today
404.419.7760
HOW CAN CUSTOM ORTHOTICS HELP ME?
1. How do you make custom orthotics?
To create custom orthotics, your Physical Therapist will take your detailed health history, and also assess your height, weight, activity level and any medical conditions. We then cast your foot to create a 3D impression mold of your feet to create an orthotic specifically designed for your feet to address any of the underlying biomechanical issues.
2. Providing Support for Your Feet
Custom orthotics are designed to provide support for the anatomical arches of your feet to give you more stability while you stand and walk. Although over-the-counter shoe inserts can also provide some stability for your foot, they were not designed to conform to any individual foot, and will not provide optimal balance and support over the entire surface of your foot. In contrast, custom orthotics will specifically help to correct misalignments in your problem areas and provide support all along the surface of your feet. Unlike over-the-counter generic insoles, custom orthotics can correct foot abnormalities such as pronation (collapsed arches) and supination (high arches).
3. Protecting Joints
When you walk, run or jump and your feet meet the ground, the actual force applied to the joints of your feet, legs and spine is equivalent to several times your weight. Over time, the wear and tear on the body’s joints can cause pain and soreness, especially for individuals who are overweight, often walk on hard surfaces, or have foot problems such as flat feet. However, custom orthotics can help your feet support the force load of your body, distributing the pressure more evenly across the surface of your feet. In addition, custom orthotics can absorb impact to help you stay active throughout the day. Importantly, custom orthotics are also effective when your feet are different from each other, helping to restore balance and preventing alignment-related problems.
4. Reducing Pain
Misalignments in foot structure caused by conditions such as flat feet, arthritis and plantar fasciitis can cause significant pain in other parts of the body. This happens due to increased strain on the ankles, knees and lower back as the body struggles to adjust its biomechanical balance to compensate for the poor foot alignment. Custom orthotics can help to alleviate pain due to biomechanical misalignments, and help to promote healing without causing unnecessary strain on other joints and parts of the body. Importantly, custom orthotics can protect individuals who have diabetes from developing foot ulcers.
5. Injury Prevention
While walking or running, our feet take a pounding, especially for those of us who spend a lot of time on our feet. Fortunately, custom orthotics can help to prevent and treat many types of muscle and bone problems, including injuries to the tendons, muscles and joints, as well as stress fractures. According to scientific research, custom orthotics can help to prevent injury such as medial tibial stress syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and knee pain. According to research findings, foot orthotics reduced the risk of injuries by 28%, and reduced the risk of stress fractures by 41%. In contrast, over-the-counter shock absorbing insoles did not produce similar protective effects.
6. Improving Your Well-Being
Improving the balance and alignment of your feet can reduce pressure from other parts of your body and improve your overall health. For instance, if foot, ankle or knee pain is preventing you from being more active or sleeping well at night, custom orthotics can have a positive effect on your whole health.
So... why not?
Our team can assess issues related to plantar fasciitis, heel spures, tired/achy feet, bunions, shin splints, metatarsalgia, hyperpronation, patellar and femoral pain, patellar tendonitis, Iliotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome, pain during running or walking, anyone with foot, knee, hip or back pain, anyone who stands more than 2 hours per day.
We would love to help you improve your athletic performance, prevent injuries, and enhance your overall well-being.
Call for a orthopedic assessment today or help with any foot- or joint-related injury
404.419.7760